When the Warm-Up Gets Hot

By Rod Symington, WSF Referees and Rules Committee I am constantly astonished at the amount of correspondence I receive on the topic of the warm-up. All the communications have the same theme: What can I...

The Irish Bachelor—or Having It Both Ways

By Rod Symington, WSF Referees and Rules Committee An Irish bachelor was once asked if he were married. He replied: “Unfortunately, not—thank God!” Many squash players seem to have Irish ancestry: They want to have it both...

How I Spent My Summer Holidays A Caribbean Cruise

By Rod Symington, WSF Referees and Rules Committee We all know that the biggest problems on the squash court result from interference: There are just too many players who, after they have hit the ball, do...

Double(s) Take Turning Rule Revisions—this time the right one

Through miscommunication, the “Changes to Turning Rule” published in the June 2007 Squash Magazine, the wrong version of the new “Turning Rule” was published. Set forth below is the correct version of the new...

Playing the Body, Not the Ball

By Rod Symington, WSF Referees and Rules Committee I have a regular correspondent in India who sends me questions about the Rules, describing various scenarios and asking what the decision should be. Unfortunately, trying to...

What is Fair View?

By Rod Symington, WSF Referees and Rules Committee There is perhaps no other aspect of the Rules that is as misunderstood as the concept of “fair view.” Because it is so misunderstood, players rarely invoke...

What Goes Around Comes Around The Reinvention of the 3-Referee System

By Rod Symington, WSF Referees and Rules Committee The Rules of Squash (18.1) state: “A Referee, assisted by a Marker, normally controls a match.” In international softball squash, this was always the traditional officiating system,...

Doubles: Changes to Turning Rule

By Mike McGorry In 1991, the USSRA’s Doubles Rules Committee voted to change the “around” or “turning” rule. Previously, if a player came around or turned on the ball he/she was only entitled to a let...

Who Am I Talking To Anyway? What the Referee needs to do before...

Rod Symington, WSF Referees and Rules Committee A couple of years ago Jonathon Power was indulging during his match in one of his periodic “discussions” with the Referee, when he looked up at the packed...

You Need Glasses! What to do if the Referee can’t see

By Rod Symington, WSF Referees and Rules Committee In a Letter to the Editor (P. 4), there is an account of a controversy that arose in the fifth game of the 5.5. Final of Minnesota’s “Indian...